Sad truths from the past, while hoping for a bright future
by shiro-wolfman-k
Summary: While at a stakeout, Nick notices that his partner is somewhat melancholic and maybe a bit forlorn, asking her what's happening brings some information that he hasn't expected or contemplated until it was pointed out to him. Getting to know his friend a little more in the process.


**Zootopia doesn't belong to me; it belongs to our greatest masters, Disney Inc. All praise the masters of all that surround us. I make no monetary gain from this story, nor do I claim that the characters or anything associated with them belongs to me.**

 **Thanks to the: King in Yellow for pre-reading this... sorry it took me so long to publish it, man. Give this man stories a visit if you could, as I've enjoyed greatly his works. His ID is: 1052599**

"What's eating you, Carrots?" Nick asked concernedly from his side of the car, glancing at her briefly before his eyes went back to the streets, his eyes being far more efficient than hers at night stakeouts.

Judy sighed, knowing that trying to hide how she felt from her partner was a lost cause, and to be honest, she really needed to air some of her more recent frustrations.

"My sister, Margaret…" She added, putting her head back at the seat, trying in vain to see the streets as professionally as she could, and failing miserably at that in her current mood and downright boredom, "She's been pestering me with mails, photos, audios and a lot of other things about this annoying series that she just found about a spy bunny."

Nick nodded ears up at attention, hearing every detail that she could currently muster at the moment, "Jack Savage, I get it?" the vulpine added after a couple of minutes of deep thought, sparkling an ounce of amusement from the doe at how he could still surprise her nowadays despite how much they knew each another. "Wasn't a big fan, but I had a crush on the actress that portrayed Skye, so I used to watch it." he attempted to amend, trying to look uninterested at what he had just described, when in actuality, he used to be quite a faithful watcher as it was one of the few shows that had bothered to portray a vulpine in a law abiding role, and not as the crook, straight out villain or comic relief.

The fact that she usually ended nearly naked in almost all episodes was a plus at the time.

Judy simply snorted and threw a look at his direction and he knew that she had apparently seen right through him and his lies.

"Right, well. I used to be a big fan too, all the things she currently has of that show used to be mine, as she has inherited my room where she found the first seasons." Judy clarified eyes once again up at the front, though this time her face didn't held as much amusement as before, "she also found my secret compartment, and some of my old journals as well."

"Oh… Margaret you said?"

"I made her destroy them in a video-call, Nick, so no; you wouldn't be getting anything out of her. Not that you would've been able to, she isn't particularly fond of you at the moment."

"They're still mad at that? And why wouldn't you want me to read those? What are you hiding from me, Cotton butt?"

"You want the world to see some of your ideas and opinions when you were ten years old, then a teenager?"

"No."

"Neither do I, I've grown up Slick, let the past where it belongs. And a few of them are still mad, yeah, especially when their own kits decided to imitate you. Margaret wasn't amused to find her brothers and cousins hanging on the trees while they attempted to replicate your Robin Hood charade." The doe gently chided without much heat on it, in fact quite amused by the memory, as she had laughed her tail off when the fox ended up whacking his face against some trees for his problems.

"So… it's that why you're so sad?" Nick mused, thinking a little about the whole thing, perhaps it was the fact that her parents had downright given her room to another kit which had her so moody, as it was a hard pill to swallow when you understood that your parents' house wasn't home anymore.

"It's not about the room, Nick, nor is it about the journals or Margaret still holding a grudge over such a silly thing." Clarified the doe, her ears lowering in slight shame at what she was about to confess, "It's about the show."

"What about it?"

"I used to love it, I really did." Judy said, glancing at the front emptily, momentarily lost in her own memories, "Even had a crush on the main character and all that, it gave me hope that I could make it. But once I graduated university and truly struggled to be even accepted at the police academy, the attraction and appreciation for the show ended, abruptly."

Nick looked at her, surprised by that, quite curious as to what could've happened to change her opinion in such a way.

"You didn't like when they killed Skye, then?" It had been a deal breaker for him, as it has been so far the only element on the series that he liked, series which also turned quite dark after that event before it was cancelled, and the actor, Leonardo Cotton went to take other roles, clearly wanting to distance himself from Jack Savage as much as he could.

"Oh, I was upset, but way before that came to pass; and I wasn't a big fan of Skye to be honest, the sexual tension between her and Jack wasn't… my cup of tea at the time." The lascivious look that she threw his direction, followed by a salacious smile told him what she thought about such matters now, before she went once more to glance at the front, followed by him as he attempted to hide how much such tease had actually affected him, which by the amused and barely suppressed giggle, he knew that she was aware of.

"What bothered me was how… much of a mockery it was." Judy supplied, breaking the tension between them by talking, "the whole thing was a mockery of what mammals thought about bunnies and what they couldn't do outside that particular world."

That on the other hand, caught Nick by surprise, not expecting her to say that in particular, thinking that perhaps she was upset at how false the hate-love relationship between Skye and Jack had seemed at some points. Which made the fox work hard to remember the whole plot of the series, coming quite empty at the process, almost all of his memories consisted of the tight, incredibly tight clothes that Sophia McCloud had been forced to use at the show.

"Oh…" once he realized how unnecessarily sexualized the vixen used to be, especially at how most of his memories were of her scarcely dressed, or in positions that forced her to use her body more than her whiles or supposed training, created a pattern that didn't paint a good picture for the whole thing.

'No wonder both actors downright refuse to even talk about the show…'

"Finally caught on, Slick?"

"Probably, but you need to excuse me if my memories of said show are mostly focused on the vixen and how little she used to dress." The snort and leer he received from his troubles told him what she thought about that, "Horny memories aside, I think I'm catching on what you're talking about."

"Horny memories indeed, Slick. Leonardo Cotton is a fine specimen I must admit, and those suits he wore, delicious~" Judy fired back at him, both of them laughing merrily at such silliness, before they controlled themselves and looked once again at the front, afraid that they would've lost any important detail in their lapse, sadly, the place was still as empty as it has been for hours.

"So, you were saying?"

"Oh, right sorry… where was I? Oh yeah, here I was, a young doe thinking that if the world could accept a bunny as a spy, even a fictional one, a police officer would be easy in comparison."

Nick didn't say anything at that, quite aware of the racism, specism, and even at some point's downright sexism, –which was quite rare in some of their societies, as most species had a clearly matriarchal hierarchy– as time went by, even finding some grief against other races of bunnies for her troubles.

Despite popular belief, Hares and Rabbits didn't get along that much.

"Just think about it, Slick." The doe continued, clearly invested on what she was saying, "I had to struggle, fight and even beg to be given a chance to prove my worth; and I didn't get it until a lion thought a scheme to gain the votes from the smaller spectrum. The mammal inclusion act wasn't a raging success; in fact it was a downright failure until I appeared; which is why he made such a spectacle of the whole thing, making quite clear how much of a visionary he was for gifting me a chance with his program. It's why he put me on Zootopia, for everyone to see me, the living proof that it worked."

It was also left unsaid how much of Bellwether's hands had been involved in the whole issue, as the ewe had as well overtly used her to advance her own goals and machinations. Internal Affairs had a whole file on her, as well as her connection with a local mafia boss, the fact that she was also closely relatedly and paired up with an ex-felon, and worst of all, a fox, hasn't made many happy, which was why they had been forced to be not only efficient, but immaculate their whole careers, as someone has been clearly invested on making things hard for them, the pressure only abating as the years passed by, if barely.

"A police officer, Nick, it isn't that hard to be accepted as one, at least at that point, were background check wasn't necessary as its nowadays, you only need to be clean and fit certain criteria in the educational and psychical department. Certainly if you want to get higher in the chain you need to study and hard to do so, but…" the sigh that escaped her mouth was filled with frustration, as well as some unpleasant memories, "It's clear that the system is often biased as well, as some police officers aren't the most educated or tolerant fellows."

The less said about Johnson 'Husk' Hoggard, the best, as that crooked cop had nearly brought them down with him.

"A few years ago the idea of a bunny attempting to get a job as a cop was laughable, Nick. If it wasn't for a political move to earn votes I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't have been given the chance to even attempt to, as I didn't fit the size or species criteria. Cheese and Crackers, Nick, even today we're being held from going up the scale due to the fact that we're too small to take the big cases that deal with murder and violent suspects, not mattering how much we've proven our capability in the field. The fact that Bogo had some problems with other precincts and his superiors when he tried to give us the case of that serial murderer in Tundra Town, speaks loudly of how little they think of us even today…" Then a bitter laugh came, one that he hasn't heard in quite some time, especially from her: "But everyone did their best to open doors for this buck in that world, everything was inclusive, everyone was accepting. Suddenly, the idea of a bunny being competent enough to reach as high as he does in the show… hell, they even were one of the first to attempt to stablish an inter-species couple on TV, for all the good it did in the end, as they killed her off and later tried to make it seem as if Jack's adventures were nothing but the works of a deluded mind, as the show advanced more and more, and violence, backstabbing and scheming were more the norm than anything else… it made me realize just… how much the writers were laughing their tails off at the idea of a bunny being something like that. It was fantasy for them, which it was why they went to make it more fantastical as seasons advanced. Jack's feats are closer to Supermane reality, than our own; it's a show that made a bunny take down with a single shot of his ridiculously small firearm an elephant, Nick. Think about it. A gun that a rabbit could hold with a single hand, with enough firepower to kill a pachyderm in a single shot that did not break his arm, nor sent him flying due to the recoil."

And there, so that's what she was trying to say, and yes, seen like that, it could be seen as a mockery of what her species could accomplish, especially as in real life the world wasn't as accepting and open minded toward mammals attempting to fill jobs that weren't particularly suited for them.

Nor were there weapons that could magically erase the recoil problem for small mammals, and be effective against all species. A world where it's more inclusive city has been forced by a politic trying to earn votes to accept a small mammal in their police force, a small mammal who despite how competent she had shown to be, was still struggling to be taken seriously by all involved. Jack feats weren't something good, no; they were a mockery of those that were really struggling with the hardships of specism day to day.

"I see…" Nothing more was said, there wasn't any need to clarify about why Judy wasn't a big fan of the show nowadays, it would also explain Cotton and McCloud's quite open disdain for the show when inquired about it, as apparently things hasn't been as nice on the set either. It probably wasn't intentional, but even then it doesn't mean that it wasn't derogatory just because they didn't think so at the moment.

Soft Specism, something that had made them clash before, on the press conference to be precise, and that show simply reeked of it now that he noticed it, and not only toward how invulnerable and nearly invincible Jack was, but as how difficult, Skye persona was, and how quick to divest from her clothes as she ended up being generally.

"So… why exactly Margaret finding your old cd's and stuff."

"Made me a so moody and angst filled Bun? Well it falls mostly on the fact that she, like me, has taken what she sees as fact, I guess I'm somewhat projecting my old self on her not that she's… obsessing over that buck, especially what he can do with a weapon has me worried, I don't want her to suffer like I did, I don't want her to be spurned by friends and family for daring to think outside the box."

"But you wouldn't stop her either… will you?"

"No, I can't. Warn her? Attempt and I emphasize, attempt to guide her, perhaps. But I'm afraid that she will soon find just how much society hates those that break the mold. Mom wants me to be close by when it happens."

"So she's basically Judy 2.0, then."

"Oh, definitely, I think mom has gained some patches of white on her ears due to stress. Dad's overjoyed externally, but the fact that Margaret wants to be a soldier, rather than a cop hasn't helped things either."

"I can imagine their noses trembling at the mere idea, Cotton tail."

"Not a hard thing to picture, Slick."

At that, the both of them settled into a comfortable silence, pondering slightly on what they had just discussed, the fox breaking it after mere fifteen minutes.

"You think those perps are going to try anything today?"

"No… I think not, part of me hopes so, this is boring."


End file.
